3 B.C.: It's All About The Woodrows

Up through the middle of the 20th century, the U.S. printed bills in denominations up to $100,000 - the Woodrow Wilson.  With Demolition Day fast approaching, my wife and I huddled up to review the finances for our little remodeling endeavor.  Yikes.  A few Woodrows lying around the house would come in handy right now.

As the scope and vision for our project grew larger, so too did the costs.  We've already done the "Woah!  It's going to cost what?" routine a couple times.  We've trimmed and hacked at the project size to get a point where we are doing the items that make the most sense to do at one time and will bring the most return value.  But we are still above the amount we have in our home equity loan to pay for it all.

We are blessed to have the savings to cover the difference, and to live in a housing market that will immediately yield upwards of 60 cents on the dollar for our investment.  It still gets into Uncomfortable Choice Land (coming soon to Disneyland!) when you feel like you are saying, "Kids, good luck with the whole college thing!"

In the end, I know that we'll be fine.  The markets will bounce back.  The kids are still only 5 and 2.  And in the end, truly, it's only money.  Sitting in an account, it's not doing nearly as much good as creating a healthy, comfortable home will do for our family.  So the choice is really not a hard one.

It doesn't mean I'm still not digging under the cushions for a Woodrow or two.